1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of playing cards which follows conventional Blackjack rules for the most part, but which makes available an optional bonus bet which enhances the payout in the event a player is dealt a natural Blackjack hand without interfering with the rhythm of the game.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
Because of the small percentage difference in the odds of playing Blackjack against the dealer, the same chips are passed back and forth from the player to the dealer (when the Blackjack player loses) and from the dealer back to the player (when the dealer loses) for relatively long periods of time. For this reason Blackjack may become boring to some players. To maintain long-term interest, it is therefore desirable to offer a bonus bet that permits the Blackjack player to have the excitement of a chance to win big other than just by varying the size of his or her base bet.
There are a number of variations on Blackjack with a bonus bet. In evaluating these variations, it is important to keep in mind that a casino typically seeks to attract as many participants to a game as possible to increase the money collected at the gaming table. In addition, the number of games played during a specified time, such as the number of hands per hour, is an important metric used to evaluate the return potential for a game. That is, the more hands that are played during a unit of time, the greater the money collected by the house and the corresponding profit realized.
The problem with existing variations on Blackjack having a bonus bet is that they slow down the Blackjack game. For example, there is game called 21+3 which combines a basic Blackjack bet with an optional 3-card Poker bet. In this game, each player is dealt two cards face-up and the dealer is dealt two cards, one up and the last one down. At this point, the outcome of each 3-card Poker hand is determined, where a 3-card Poker hand consists of the 2-card hand dealt to that player and the dealer's face-up card. After settling the Poker bets, the game of Blackjack continues in a typical fashion. The Poker game slows down the Blackjack game and may drive away those players who just want to play Blackjack, reducing the casino's profit.